After The Party: cast, plot and everything we know

After The Party is a twisty drama set in Wellington, New Zealand.
After The Party is a twisty drama set in Wellington, New Zealand. (Image credit: Channel 4)

After The Party is a tense drama full of accusations and high emotions. Set in Wellington, New Zealand, the series follows a woman who lost everything when she accused her husband of a sex crime against her daughter’s teenage friend, and no one believed her.

It features Black Bird star Robyn Malcolm as Penny Wilding, an outspoken science teacher, basketball coach and environmental campaigner. Lord of the Rings star Peter Mullan plays Penny’s accused ex-husband who returns to town leaving Penny to decide what’s more important, the truth or rebuilding her relationship with those around her. 

Here’s everything you need to know about After The Party… 

After The Party release date

After The Party is a six-part series that was available to stream in New Zealand on TVNZ from October 29, 2023. 

The show will premiere in the UK on Channel 4 in 2024. As soon as a UK date is announced, we’ll let you know on here. 

After The Party plot 

Penny Wilding tells it like it is, whether that’s lecturing teenage boys on how porn will ruin their sex lives or waging a graffiti war on fishing boats. But her attitude means she has few friends in the coastal town near Wellington, New Zealand. Five years ago, however, Penny’s life was turned upside down when she accused her husband Phil of a sex crime and nobody believed her. When Phil returns, Penny’s daughter pleads with her to forget the accusations and move on. But can she really let such injustice go unpunished? 

After The Party cast — Robyn Malcolm as Penny Wilding

Robyn Malcolm plays brutally honest teacher, mother and grandmother Penny Wilding. The New Zealand actor has starred in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Black Bird, Far North, Outrageous Fortune and Shortland Street

Robyn Malcolm.

Robyn Malcolm. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Peter Mullan as Phil

Peter Mullan is playing Penny’s ex-husband who she accused of a sex crime. He’s been in hit movies such as Trainspotting, Braveheart, My Name is Joe, The Magdalene Sisters, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and The Vanishing. He’s also had roles in Westworld, Mum, Ozark and The Fear

The North Water's Peter Mullan as the Priest.

Peter Mullan as the Priest in The North Water. (Image credit: BBC)

Who else is starring? 

After The Party also stars Tara Canton, Ian Blackburn, Peter Hambleton, Elz Carrad, Catherine Wilkin and Dean O’Gorman. We'll update on their characters when we can.

Is there a trailer? 

No, but if and when Channel 4 releases one, we’ll post it on this page.

Behind the scenes and more on After The Party

After The Party was co-created by Robyn Malcolm and Dianne Taylor and was produced by Australia’s Lingo Pictures and Luminous Beast in New Zealand as an original commission for New Zealand’s TVNZ in association with and distributed by ITV Studios.

Polly Scates, Channel 4’s head of acquisitions, says: “Full of twists, turns and stunning performances, this important series is sure to keep audiences guessing and stay with them long after the final episode.”

Nicholas Cannon
TV Content Director on TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week

I'm a huge fan of television so I really have found the perfect job, as I've been writing about TV shows, films and interviewing major television, film and sports stars for over 25 years. I'm currently TV Content Director on What's On TV, TV Times, TV and Satellite Week magazines plus Whattowatch.com. I previously worked on Woman and Woman's Own in the 1990s. Outside of work I swim every morning, support Charlton Athletic football club and get nostalgic about TV shows Cagney & Lacey, I Claudius, Dallas and Tenko. I'm totally on top of everything good coming up too.

With contributions from